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Pennies from Phyrexia [[Primer]]

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Midrange Multiplayer Primer WUB (Esper)

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Mana (32)

Win Con (6)

CA/Tutor/Recur (26)

Macabre Waltz (12)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Ertai, the Corrupted

D3 (20)

Enabler (3)

Maybeboard

CA/Tutor/Recur (5)

Combo (2)

D3 (5)

Macabre Waltz (3)

He's been called (by himself) the greatest dancer of his generation. Tiring of the Competitive EDH circuit because it was too easy for a Wizard of his caliber, Ertai, the Corrupted decided to follow his passion, tap dancing. Ertai, the Corrupted painstakingly assembled his lovable troupe of tap dancers and is taking them on the road.

Upvote & Bring Pennies from Phyrexia to a town near me

You've been lucky enough to get a backstage pass. Just stay away from Ertai, the Corrupted's dressing room unless you want to listen for hours about the time he won a dance off against Fred Astaire and then turned him into a frog. Or, the time he discovered that Christopher Walken could regenerate and killed him over and over making him say "I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell" every time he came back to life.

Congratulations to Hunter_Killer, the 100th audience member who will be receiving a life-time supply of tickets to the show.

Reporter: It smells quite heavily of lavender in your dressing room.

Ertai: It's hardly fitting for a sorcerer of my skills and a candidate for evincar to go around smelling like one of your moggs

Reporter: Moggs? You mean my readers? Well, let's start. The question on everyone's mind is why did you quit the cEDH circuit for tap dancing?

Ertai: Come, ask me to demonstrate something worthy. You'd rather I talked than gave a demonstration?

Reporter: Yes, it was said that cEDH was rough on you.

Ertai: Why muck about in the past, woman, when you can invent the present or create the future?

Reporter: My readers need to know why.

Ertai: I should think your needs were general. I sense no remarkable talents in any of you.

Reporter: Okay, but why tap dancing?

Ertai: To spread my reputation beyond Tolaria - I expected nothing in return except whatever fame my exploits would inevitably bring me.

Reporter: Critics of your show say it's too slow, that some artifacts could speed it up - what do you say to them?

Ertai: In truth I'd paid little attention to artifacts during my studies. There are few artifacts that can do anything a good spell can't do. Magical machines are a crutch for lesser wizards.

Reporter: Yes, but there are those that say you don't have the right Mana colors for tap dancing and if you're going to persist in doing so, you need more artifacts.

Ertai: But why would one want to control any artifacts at all? Why rely on some dead tinkerer's construction, when you can conjure by your own wits?"

Reporter: I'm holding a recent review of your show by Zur and Derevi where they...

Ertai: How can I impress upon you the simple truth that I do not care what it is?

Reporter: Uh, how do you respond to your detractors that your boasting before was bad, but now it's really gotten out of hand.

Ertai: They accuse me of boasting. However, I merely tell the truth, and it sounds like boasting to them. Can I help it that their skills are meager compared to my tremendous native ability.

Reporter: Zur says you're over confident, that it borders on ...

Ertai: I have considerable skill. It's confidence well earned.

Reporter: ...that it's insulting.

Ertai: You perplex me. I ask you again, where is the insult in a simple truth?

Reporter: The review says that every Wizard should know two things...

Ertai: My education, has taught me considerably more than two things.

Reporter: Every Wizard should know two things. First, what they're limitations are, that is, what they can and can't do. What do you say to Zur about this?

Ertai: That's the difference between us, 'Can't' is not a word you'll hear me say. Some people are ill equipped to encounter their own limitations.

Reporter: And two, a deep understanding of the auras surrounding people. What about that?

Ertai: I'm the sensitive type. My sense of the shifting energies around people is unusual in its subtlety.

Reporter: Well, Zur goes on to say that his skills are impressive...

Ertai: Impressive? How can you say this savage is impressive?

Reporter: and his strength too much for you.

Ertai: He's gone mad, utterly mad.

Reporter: All you need to win in the cEDH circuit is skills and strength.

Ertai: Don't forget luck and brains. The strongest wrestler may fall if he slips up—and a smart fighter provides his own bar of soap.

Reporter: Why do you resist answering my questions.

Ertai: A modicum of resistance is mandatory. After all, I am the most naturally talented sorcerer of the age.

Ertai: This isn't going to accomplish anything

Reporter: Well, Ertai just got up and left, I guess that concludes the interview.

A Deafening Silence falls over the crowd as the spotlights gently illuminates Thespian's Stage with Intruder Alarm and Training Grounds dimly seen in the background. Those few audience members who keep talking are quickly Silenced by Lavinia, Azorius Renegade.

  • Le Sacre du Printemps: Straight from Hamelin, Pennies from Phyrexia's newest castmember, Piper of the Swarm, takes the stage with Priest of Forgotten Gods. The Piper calls rat after rat on the stage as Priest of Forgotten Gods destroys them.

  • If I Only Had a Brain: Starts off with a change of set. With Paradise Mantle on stage, the crowd watches as Pili-Pala generates infinite mana of any color - all without breaking a sweat.

  • Begin the Beguine: Aphetto Alchemist takes the stage and don's his card:Illusionist Bracers. Tapping effortlessly, he creates mana out of thin air.

  • Stormy Weather: Off stage, Ertai, the Corrupted cannot stand Hanna, Ship's Navigator. Only a lesser wizard would need to rely on trinkets. On stage though, there is an undeniable chemistry. As Selina Rogers, Hanna delights audiences pulling Walking Ballistas out of thin air, dropping them onto the set as fast as Ertai can use them.

NOTE: Due to personality conflicts, Hanna has been let go and the routine has been canceled until further notice.

  • Young Frankenstein: Critics claimed that no one could pull off "Puttin on the Ritz" like Gene Wilder and Peter Boyle until they watched Fatestitcher's rendition. Fatestitcher dances across the stage tapping and untapping everything he sees. One fan claimed, "I saw Fred Astaire's 'Puttin on the Ritz' performance in 'Blue Skies' back in 1946 and thought I would never see the like again, until tonight that is, Ertai's Pennies from Phyrexia Tap-Dancing Troupe is a must see for Astaire and Boyle fans alike."

  • Pennies from Phyrexia: And finally, the moment the crowd has waited for. The lights dim and Ertai, the Corrupted steps lithely onto stage. A hush envelopes the arena and Ertai, the Corrupted, in his homage to Christopher Walken, stops everything thrown his way, tapping so fast it appears he is standing still.

If you're a 30 counterpspell, turn 2, play Zur the Enchanter, tutor into Necropotence and draw Doomsday for the win player, this deck is not for you. PfP requires strategic planning, a willingness to slow-play and a stubborn denial of reality to win. If you enjoy the thrill of building a win, try it out otherwise, read no further. PfP is a deck aimed at slowing down and disrupting game plans vice countering everything.

PfP is built with five major objectives:

  1. Use Ertai, the Corrupted as the final counter

  2. Compete in a multi-player Competitive EDH (cEDH) setting versus multiple archtypes while still having a theme

  3. Control the game using a combination of preemptively denying, disrupting and degrading (D3) opponent's options and reactive counter spells.

  4. Be robust and resilient, being able to win even if "vital" pieces are eliminated/not available

  5. Avoid a cookie-cutter Esper deck

Cards are organized into the following categories (I've attempted to combine multiple subgroups to minimize the number of categories):

  • Mana is self-explanatory

  • CA/Tutor/Recur: Card advantage - whether it's draw, put in hand, library filters or tutors.

  • Macabre Waltz: Combo framework and plug-ins that provide the win or get us there.

  • D3: Deny, Disrupt and Degrade pieces - slow opponent's down, modify the board state, and protect my board state

  • Enabler: Cards that boost the primary NFP combo

This is a mid-range combo deck relying on the interaction/synergy of card combinations to gain control of the game. There is also a touch of suicide. The deck can quickly kill you either through Pain Seer, Mana Crypt and Mana Vault, pain lands or its lack of pillow forting. Not to mention, Ertai, the Corrupted makes you weigh your cards vs theirs.

Esper was chosen for it's access to tutors, removals, control and recursion. Ertai, the Corrupted was chosen because he said he was the best.

The two biggest strengths of PfP are (not) surprisingly the weaknesses.

  • Synergy: The synergy of pieces provides for "nasty" outcomes but broadcast the intent.
  • Commander: Ertai, the Corrupted is an Abjure on a stick. If you have an open and a sackable creature/enchantment you can counter almost every spell. But, the more you counter, the greater the likelihood that you will run out of the resources needed to continue. Ertai's strengths/weaknesses are discussed in later sections.

Other strengths include:

  • Redundancy: Many cards can fill absences caused by counterspells etc and most are multi-purpose.
  • Resiliency: The deck can continue with the loss of important pieces and is geared to run Necrotic Ooze from the field if/when other creatures are killed.

Weaknesses are:

  • Transparency: Opponents will know what you have in hand whether it's from Pain Seer, Disciple of Deceit or top of the library tutors.
  • Graveyard and Creature Dependent: the deck relies heavily on putting cards into the graveyard for Necrotic Ooze, any graveyard hate or Cursed Totem effects makes for a bad day
  • Responses: The deck has limited counter-magic relative to other cEDH decks of like colors so, there is a reliance on getting "control" pieces out fast.
  • Slow: The deck is currently too slow to be competetive and does not have enough D3 pieces to slow opponents down. If another deck gets a good board state, it is difficult to catch up.
  • Backwards: In it's current shape, the deck is backwards. Rather than using card advantage to go infinite, the deck generally requires an infinite combo to get cards in hand.
  • Janky Combos: Combos require more than two pieces, rendering them ineffective in a competitive setting.
  • Pyrrhic Attrition and Parity: In many cases the deck can achieve a good board state but then fails to acquire the necessary resources to put the game away.
  • Proactive vice Reactive: There is not enough interaction and cards must be played proactively.

The deck is built to synergize off of tapping/untapping. For creatures, there are two main categories.

  • Inspired: Pain Seer and Disciple of Deceit. By themselves, they are terrible cards. Tapping requires combat and untapping requires the untap phase. Comparing Dark Confidant to Pain Seer, the former is guaranteed to put a card in hand every upkeep whereas Pain Seer may put a card in hand at every untap stap.

  • Tap/Untap Activated: Tap-to-activate cards like Fatestitcher and untap-to-activate cards like Pili-Pala are dual-hatted. Using their ability is good but combining them via Necrotic Ooze and the graveyard is their true purpose. Via the Nooze, Fatestitcher and Pili-Pala can provide infinite mana, or the ability to activate other graveyard cards infinitely.

For everything else, exclusive lands, cards were selected based on their ability to provide the following:

Card-Advantage: Any thing that puts cards in hand or in the graveyard for the Nooze.

Tap/Untap: Intruder Alarm and the NFP combo provide the only mass untap functionality (aside from the untap step) but these cards should generally be viewed and played as a win-con.

Control and Win: Ertai, the Corrupted's main role in the deck is not to provide a permenent lock but to protect the end game. Other cards like Silence provide backup to Ertai.

The remainder of the cards are used to enforce control until Ertai, the Corrupted can force a lock and/or a win con can be achieved.

Reasons For Not Including Cards

There are several notable Esper, Ertai and/or cEDH staples missing that should be discussed.

  • Necropotence as we know, gives amazing card advantage but the triple makes casting difficult, jacks up the mana base and, being able to discard without having the cards exiled is important.

  • Doomsday/Laboratory Maniac This is not a doomsday deck.

  • Graveyard hate i.e. Rest in Peace etc. The deck needs the graveyard to win or at least provide the means to win.

  • Untapping equipment/auras. I have tried Pemmin's Aura, Umbral Mantle, Aura of Dominion etc. due to the synergy they would provide but they have never panned out.

The main difficulties arising from Ertai, the Corrupted are:

  1. He's slow. Even with a God Hand, getting him out before turn 3 will be difficult and at that point, he will most likely be dead in the water because he won't have protection or sackable permanents and he'll have summoning sickness. For whatever reason, Ertai, the Corrupted brings a lot of hate when he comes out. Even when there are more powerful commanders on the field, he still gets the brunt of removal spells first.

  2. He needs something to sack. There are several (let's call them static) token generators in Esper like Bitterblossom but to be useful, Ertai needs at least one sackable permanent per opponent's turn.

  3. Mana. Without , he cannot do much. Once again to be useful, Ertai needs at least one open per opponent's turn.

  4. A tapped Ertai, the Corrupted is a sad Ertai, the Corrupted. Once you counter a spell, Ertai has to wait until your untap step and your opponents will run over you.

It is possible to build an Ertai deck that provides a near hard lock but there are three problems:

  1. The pieces and mana required for those pieces push the deck into a casual setting

  2. So much effort and resources must be spent that it becomes a "stop opponents from winning" deck. There would be little room left in the deck for other cards

  3. It is improbable that the combination of cards required could be played prior to opponents building a board state that Ertai couldn't handle

With this in mind, PfP does not use Ertai, the Corrupted as a hard lock rather, Ertai is meant to protect the end game.

This is a high-powered or 75% deck with a turn 6 or 7 win. The key to winning is playing like its a bad deck (not hard) and sneaking in a Fait Accompli.

We want to limt opponents and slow down their turns, allowing PfP to catch up. In order to do so, we need to drop Lavinia, Azorius Renegade or Deafening Silence or have some countermagic in hand.

Barring that, if we can combo out fast with Necrotic Ooze and Buried Alive (for Spectral Sailor, Pili-Pala and Fatestitcher) to draw the deck with infinite mana.

PfP aims to slow opponents to our speed of play until we can set up the end game. At this point, we need to (1) get protection for the end game in hand. Silence can give us free reign during our turn. Ertai, the Corrupted, and counterspells provide a one-shot counter to disruption. (2) We also want to have an infinite mana combo ready.

In short, the end game consists of Go Infinite, Get Cards, Kill Opponents. The combos below are discussed further in the Combo Section.

Infinite Mana: We have several combos to generate infinite mana.

  1. NFP - generates infinite mana of any color, also generate infinite tap/untap and activated abilities.

  2. PBR: generate infinite mana of any color

  3. Alchemist Gloves: generates infinite many of any color or infinite colorless depending on mana rocks in play. Can also be used to generate infinite activated abilities.

  4. Cryptic Pala: can generate infinite mana but is janky.

All the Cards: We also have several methods to 'draw' the library.

  1. With infinite mana, Spectral Sailor draws the deck

  2. Ad Nauseam + Angel's Grace

  3. Alchemist Gloves and Sensei's Divining Top

  4. NFP with Sensei's Divining Top

  5. Pain Seer with a means to tap i.e. Paradise Mantle or Skirsdag High Priest and a means to untap i.e. Intruder Alarm, Alchemist Gloves or NFP. This could kill you without Angel's Grace

  6. Cryptbreaker and two other Zombies along with infinite untap. Also could kill you without Angel's Grace.

  7. Ayara, First of Locthwain or Priest of Forgotten Gods requires infinite untap and infinite creatures.

Win:

  1. The primary win-con revolves around Ayara, First of Locthwain's triggered ability and infinite mana. In order of preference, ease of carrying out:

  2. Cast and bounce Cavern Harpy until opponents are dead.

  3. With infinte untap Ayara, First of Locthwain's can sac a black recursive creature i.e. Reassembling Skeleton or Gravecrawler and recast until opponent's are dead.

  4. Infinite black tokens via Skirsdag High Priest, Pack Rat or General's Enforcer. The last three are constrained by the number of cards in hand or number of creatures in opponent's libraries.

  5. Walking Ballista either cast for infinite, or pumped up with infinite mana.

Type: Win-Con, Perpetual, Infinite

Description: The primary combo of the deck is Fatestitcher + Necrotic Ooze + Pili-Pala a.k.a NFP. This is a virtual win-con and deserves extra attention as it provides infinite mana, untapping of all permanents, tapping all of opponent's permanents (i.e. at the end of their upkeep). and by putting other creatures in the graveyard, we can activate their abilities an infinite number of times. With the Nooze in play, casting Buried Alive for Pili-Pala, card:Fatesticher and Spectral Sailor allows us to draw our deck.

Preconditions: Pili-Pala and card:Fatesticher in the graveyard, a taps for mana rock and the Nooze doesn't have summoning sickness or Shriekdiver is in the yard.

Setup Cost: (for the Nooze and a mana rock)

Starting Cost:

Loop Cost: (The loop generates self-serving mana)

Steps: Tap Sol Ring for , tap Nooze (via card:Fatesticher to untap Sol Ring. With the floating untap Nooze (via Pili-Pala) to add one mana of any color. Repeat, adding one mana of any color each time.

Variants: With Aphetto Alchemist instead of Fatestitcher we cannot tap or untap any number of permanents but we can still generate infinite mana Training Grounds allows any mana source to work. And, Lazav, the Multifarious can sub in for the Nooze (if the Nooze is in the yard).

Type: Perpetual, Infinite

Description: Aphetto Alchemist + Illusionist's Bracers is used to perpetually untap an artifact or creature. Can be used as a poor man's Intruder Alarm. With Vault of Whispers or a mana rock, produces infinite mana, draws the deck with Sensei's Divining Top or can be used to infinitely activate another creature's ability (and of course all three).

Preconditions: Aphetto Alchemist does not have summoning sickness. A mana rock or artifact land is also in play.

Setup Cost:

Starting Cost:

Loop Cost: (the loop requires no mana)

Steps: With Aphetto Alchemist equipped with Illusionist's Bracers, untap desired permanent and with the copy of the activated ability, untap the Alchemist. Repeat the process.

Variants: Lazav, the Multifarious or Necrotic Ooze can replace the Alchemist if he's in the yard.

Type: Framework, Win-Con, Infinite

Description: A Perpetual Motion framework, Pili-Pala and Training Grounds can be used for alternate combos. By paying and tapping Pili-Pala to activate an ability, Pili-Pala untaps itself and generates another mana which is then used to pay for the continued loop. Two cards are present to "plug-in": Paradise Mantle + Pili-Pala + Training Grounds generates infinite mana and Banishing Knack + Pili-Pala + Training Grounds (or Retraction Helix) returns all opponent's non-land permanents to hand.

Preconditions: Training Grounds and Pili-Pala in play.

Setup Cost:

Starting Cost:

Loop Cost: (The loop generates self-serving mana)

Steps: Tap a mana source for at least , activate a tap ability of Pili-Pala from an aura or equipment and use the floating to untap Pili-Pala, generating a mana of any color in the process. Repeat indefinitely.

Variants: Necrotic Ooze or Lazav, the Multifarious can fill for Pili-Pala. Sub in Hermetic Study and you can use the combo to pint opponents to death with mana to start the loop.

Type: Infinite Mana

Description: A Perpetual Motion framework. Requires Necrotic Ooze and Training Grounds in play and Pili-Pala and Cryptic Trilobite in the yard. Using Nooze to activate the trilobite, add a counter, then remove it and untap via Pala to add a colored mana. With Training Grounds there is a leftover colorless mana that can be used to repeat the loop.

Preconditions: Training Grounds and Necrotic Ooze in play, Pili-Pala and Cryptic Trilobite in the yard,

Setup Cost:

Starting Cost:

Loop Cost: (The loop generates self-serving mana)

Steps: Use to tap the Nooze via the Trilobite and put a +1/+1 counter on the Nooze. Remove the counter to add via the Trilobite. With , untap Nooze via Pili-Pala to add a colored mana. Repeat with the remaining , adding a colored mana each time.

Variants: Lazav, the Multifarious can sub for the Nooze.

Type: Infinite

Description: Banishing Knack + Mana Crypt + Pili-Pala (or Retraction Helix) provides infinite mana. Ideally, we can use this to win. If Blind Obedience is in play, the loop is used to infinitely cast Mana Crypt and provide the mana to extort.

Preconditions: Pili-Pala must be in play without summoning sickness. Mana Crypt must be in play preferably untapped.

Setup Cost:

Starting Cost

Loop Cost: the basic loop requires no mana to execute

Steps: Tap Mana Crypt for , cast Banishing Knack or Retraction Helix for targeting Pili-Pala. Tap Pili-Pala, bouncing Mana Crypt and use the floating to untap Pili-Pala adding one mana of any color. Cast Mana Crypt and repeat.

Variants: Necrotic Ooze or Lazav, the Multifarious can sub in for Pili-Pala. Training Grounds can be used provided one colorless and one colored mana for each step. Mana Vault can be used in lieu of Mana Crypt.

Type: Win-con, Infinite, Janky

Description: Priest of Forgotten Gods+Piper of the Swarm+Intruder Alarm+Training Grounds can be used to either draw the deck, wipe opponent's board of creatures, or kill opponents (depending on their life totals).

Preconditions: Requires Intruder Alarm, Training Grounds,Priest of Forgotten Gods and Piper of the Swarm in play (without summoning sickness).

Setup cost:

Starting cost:

Loop Cost: (requires on each loop that is generated during the loop)

Steps: With (due to Training Grounds), tap Piper of the Swarm (PotS) to create a 1/1 Rat. PotS untaps due to Intruder Alarm. With another tap PotS and create a second 1/1 Rat, untapping PotS. Now, tap Priest of Forgotten Gods (PoFG), sacrificing the two 1/1 Rats. Opponents take two and sack a creature, you draw a card and get . With the generated mana, use one of the to tap PotS, create a 1/1 Rat and untap both PotS and PoFG. Use the remaining to create a second 1/1 Rat and repeat until the desired endstate.

Variants: Necrotic Ooze or Lazav, the Multifarious can sub in for one of the creatures. Mothdust Changeling can be used as a Rat if only one is open to start.

Type: Win-con, Infinite

Description: Skirsdag High Priest and Intruder Alarm used together produce infinite token:Demonss and untap triggers.

Preconditions: Requires Intruder Alarm and Skirsdag High Priest as well as two other creatures (plus a death trigger).

Setup cost:

Starting cost:

Loop Cost:

Steps: Tap Skirsdag High Priest (SKH) and two other creatures to create a 1/1 Demon. SKH untaps due to Intruder Alarm. Repeat until desired number of 1/1 Demons are created. If Priest of Forgotten Gods is on the field, sac two 1/1 Demons every other time to draw the deck and/or kill opponents. If Ayara, First of Locthwain is on the field opponents lose 1 life for each 1/1 Demon. If all else fails, execute immediately prior to turn and attack for the win.

Variants: Necrotic Ooze or Lazav, the Multifarious can sub in.

Type: Finite, Card Advantage, Near Wrath

Description: Using the 10/4/2004 ruling on Intruder Alarm "If multiple creatures enter the battlefield at one time, this ability triggers once for each creature. This doesn’t matter much, but it can in some cases." Priest of Forgotten Gods+card:Intruder Alarm+Secure the Wastes (or any other mass token generator) generate multiple untap triggers replacing nearly all the mana used to cast the token generator.

Preconditions: Requires Intruder Alarm and Priest of Forgotten Gods (without summoning sickeness) in play.

Setup cost:

Starting cost:

Loop Cost: (uses untap triggers)

Steps: Casting Secure the Wastes for puts 1/1 Warriors in play and untap triggers on the stack. Tap Priest of Forgotten Gods (PoFG), sacking two 1/1 Warriors which nets us , draws a card and causes any number of targeted opponents to sack a creature and lose two life. Pop an untap trigger off the stack to repeat until no 1/1 Warriors are left. The end result is that we have added Black mana to the pool, drawn /2 cards, caused opponents to lose /2 life and sack /2 creatures.

Variants: Necrotic Ooze or Lazav, the Multifarious can sub in for PoFG. If we have another creature equipped with Paradise Mantle it can be used to generate one mana of any color for each untap trigger. Additionally, we could use the netted mana to put Reassembling Skeleton or Gravecrawler into play, adding additional sac targets for PoFG.

Type: Finite, Win-Con, Attrition

Description: The traditional Sword of the Meek + Thopter Foundry combo. Useful to generate sac targers for Ertai, provide protection, or gain life in preparation of a AdNaus.

Preconditions: Requires Thopter Foundry in play and Sword of the Meek in the graveyard (or in hand).

Setup cost:

Starting cost:

Loop Cost:

Steps: With Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek in play, sac the Sword by paying , create a 1/1 Thopter and gain a life. When the 1/1 Thopter enters the play, the Sword returns to the battlefield. Repeat while mana is available.

Variants: With Intruder Alarm in play, we get an untap trigger. The untap trigger can be used with Aphetto Alchemist or card:Fatesticher to go infinite, creating infinite token:Thopters (attacking on next turn for infinite combat damage) and gaining infinite life. With Priest of Forgotten Gods, the Priest can sac two token:Thopters, doing 2 damage to each opponent and generating to be used to create two more token:Thopters for an infinite loop.

For the most part, the sideboard (in my Maybeboard) is holding cards that just don't have a place in the deck. However, there are few switches that can be made depending on either the meta or your desired effect.

25-Sep-20: Trying out Repeal, Niveous Wisps and Dark Salvation for Chain of Vapor, Pack Rat and Drannith Magistrate which gives me two cantrips and another win con with Ayara

09-Aug-20: Replaced Skirsdag High Priest and Read the Runes with Thopter Foundry and Sword of the Meek

29-Jul-20: Put Piper of the Swarm back in, dropping Tortured Existence

20-Jul-20: Replaced Sanitarium Skeleton with Gutterbones

17-Jul-20: Testing Secure the Wastes and Tortured Existence for Disciple of Deceit and Piper of the Swarm

28-Jun-20: Dropped Exotic Orchard, Spell Blast Scheming Symmetry for Seat of the Synod, Village Rites and Read the Runes

20-May-20: Dropped in Quicken and Scheming Symmetry for Soothsaying and Dark Salvation

17-May-20: Put in Unearth for Cryptbreaker. This gives another card to grab Lazav or a quick non-spell draw.

16-May-20: Replaced Counterspell with Mana Drain. The upside outweighs the flavor.

14-May-20: More than shenanagins, I need colored mana so I replaced Winding Canyons with Exotic Orchard. Also replaced Heliod's Intervention for Scout's Warning

09-May-20: Replaced Counterbalance and Nether Traitor for Dispel and Sanitarium Skeleton.

06-May-20: Replaced Gravecrawler and Relentless Dead with Bloodsoaked Champion and Nether Traitor.

05-May-20: Put Cavern Harpy in for Farmstead Gleaner.

01-May-20: Replaced Diabolic Intent with Tainted Pact, Butcher Ghoul with Pack Rat and Serra Ascendant with Farmstead Gleaner.

10-Apr-20: Changes out some lands adding Winding Canyons and Sea of Clouds for card:Seath of the Synod and Survivors' Encampment

07-Apr-20: With the spoilers for IKO and C20, found some interesting cards.

IN: Taigam, Ojutai Master, Chalice of the Void, General's Enforcer, Drannith Magistrate

OUT: Stasis, Witch's Oven, Deadeye Tracker, Cauldron Familiar, Mothdust Changeling

22-Mar-20: Replaced Spire of Industry with Forbidden Orchard

15-Mar-20: Trying out some jank combos and bad cards:

Out: Intuition, Lim-Dul's Vault, Secure the Wastes, Underground Sea, Emergence Zone, card:Prphet of Distortion, Walking Ballista, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Eldrazi Displacer, Rebuff the Wicked

In: Ponder, Read the Runes, Witch's Oven, Godless Shrine, Seat of the Synod, Cauldron Familiar, Stasis, Vault of Whispers, Lab Rats, Mothdust Changeling

18-Jan-20: Removed Mana Drain, Ponder, Thousand-Year Elixir, Negate and Blind Obedience. Added Counterbalance, Prophet of Distortion, Lim-Dul's Vault, Intuition and Heliod's Intervention

03-Jan-20: Put in Diabolic Intent for Dark Salvation

02-Jan-20: Replaced Steward of Solidarity with Skirsdag High Priest. The priest is harder to utilize but synergizes better with inspired pieces and Ayara.

01-Jan-20: Needing more draw power, put in Ponder, Sensei's Divining Top and Relentless Dead for Dark Ritual, Cauldron Familiar and Witch's Oven

Removed changes prior to 01-Jan-20

THIS SECTION IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

Ertai, the Corrupted thinks as little of scientists as he does of artificers. Only a weak mind would need to support their arguments with something as frivolous as math. But, he does recognize its usefullness in certain situations. Night Market Lookout, the show's resident bouncer, also dabbles in statistics and was commissioned to run the books for PfP.

I once got a god hand and fecked it up, forgetting to cast Grim Monolith on turn 1. What are the chances that I'll ever see a hand like that again?

What is a god hand? Anything that can win by turn 3. In EDH with one commander, there are 14,887,031,544 possible opening hands and with two commanders, there are 13,834,413,152 possible opening hands. With the number of possible hands, decks that advertise a turn 2 win seem far-fetched (although in a recent cEDH tournament, a turn 1 LabMan followed by an turn 2 Demonic Consultation during the upkeep pulled out a win.)

PfP offers several turn "instant-win" hands but what are the odds that these hands will be drawn.

First off, an aside about mana. PfP is running a limited number of lands. The chances getting no lands in hand is high and, in cEDH, you won't be catching up. With 27 lands, PfP has a 28.7% probability of getting at least 2 lands in the opening hand, which is not good but can be played with. On the other hand, there is only a 8.5% chance of getting 3 or more lands in the opening hand. Likewise, the probability of getting two lands and a turn 1 mana rock (excluding Mox Amber, Chrome Mox) is 9%. And, we all know Murphy's Law of Magic: if you keep 5 lands in your opening hand, your next 5 draws will be lands and if you keep 1 or fewer lands in you opening hand, your next 5 draws will not be lands.

For the below, there may be several alternates but we chose the fastest way in terms of turns and cards. For example, if we need 1 colored mana and 3 colorless mana on turn two, playing a land and casting Mana Vault is "faster" than playing a land, casting Mana Crypt and tapping it to cast Grim Monolith because the former only requires 2 cards. We also make two assumptions 1) opponents do not interact and 2) we get all required cards in our opponening hand.

  1. Turn 2 Win:

  2. Turn 2 Win:

Still trying to get test games in but, at present, PfP has the most difficulty with "high tempo" decks i.e Najeela, "fast ramp" decks and reanimation decks i.e. Meren.

Record:

Type:      W  L      %
----------------------------
Official:  0  3  0.000
Other:     4  5  0.444
Overall:  4  8  0.333
----------------------------

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Top Ranked
  • Achieved #23 position overall 6 years ago
Date added 7 years
Last updated 4 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

5 - 0 Mythic Rares

53 - 0 Rares

22 - 0 Uncommons

17 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 1.45
Tokens Bird 2/2 U, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Morph 2/2 C, Rat 1/1 B, Spirit 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 U, Warrior 1/1 W, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders Favorable Fodder, EDH remember me, EDH, EDH, Interesting, Commanders, make it, Interesting Commander Decks, Bra decks, Commander
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